Friday Dolphins Mailbag: Tua, "On the Couch Eating Chips" and Other Topics

GM Chris Grier and the matchup against the Buffalo Bills are among other Miami Dolphins topics discussed

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) attempts to knock the ball out of the end zone after a safety against the Arizona Cardinals in the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Part 1 of the pre-Buffalo game Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag:

From Mike Marchese (@fin1fan):

Should I have Lays regular chips or the dill pickle ones (which are really good) to eat on my couch?

This is the first in a series of mailbag submissions related to Tua’s comments this week when he took a shot at fans (or perhaps the media) after being asked about the shotgun snap he couldn’t handle by saying “it’s not as easy as what it looked like sitting down on your couch eating chips.” Not surprisingly, the comment didn’t sit well with a lot of fans, and it really shouldn’t have because it quite frankly was out of line from this end.

From Leon Fresco (@FrescoLeon):

I have never seen a team pick up more injuries in the middle of the week during practice than the Dolphins. Is the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? Is it time to overhaul the strength and conditioning regimen?

Hey Leon, I really don’t know that the Dolphins have an unusually high number of injuries in the middle of the week. Those things just happen during the course of a season because even if it’s not a heavy-contact practice, the players still can be running hard and cutting hard. Besides, isn’t one of the complaints about the Dolphins that they don’t practice hard enough? We can’t have it both ways.

TALKING MIKE McDANIEL AND CHRIS GRIER

From Jason Kirkland (@1bigdad424):

Hi Alain, I think Miami has a good core and just needs to add to what they have while removing the guys not performing. However, Grier has shown that he can't build a roster to make a deep playoff run. Miami should hire someone else to retool the roster. Your thoughts?

Hey Jason, if the season ends the way it has begun, then it absolutely would be fair to point the finger at Chris Grier after his sixth year as the decision-maker in the organization. I don’t know how anyone could suggest otherwise, though I also believe that most of the personnel decisions are collaborative (though maybe this is where the Dolphins need a strong GM whose decisions override anyone else).

From Jayco (@ljc7975):

Alain, in your professional opinion when did it start to go downhill for Mike McDaniel?

Hmm, that’s a dangerous question, and I’m not sure about the notion of “go downhill.” I would say the failure to get more out of the offense — understanding the drop-off at the position — with Skylar Thompson or Tyler Huntley at quarterback was very disappointing. We all understand the offense was designed specifically with Tua in mind, but there still should be a level of functionality with the same scheme with a backup or there needs to be enough of a tweak for the offense to still be at least, again, functional. So either there was a poor job of tweaking the offense for Thompson and Huntley, or a gross miscalculation in what the Dolphins had at the position.

From Roger Dodger (@RogerDolfan):

Has Tua apologized yet for attacking his couch-sitting chip-eating fans yet?

Hey Roger, I have not seen anything at all along those lines and I’m not sure an apology will be coming, even though it might not be the worst idea in the world. As I said, there was no need for Tua to go down that route, and we can take it even further and suggest he should have left out that it wasn’t Aaron Brewer’s best snap. The fans route was out of bounds, from where I sit, because fans aren’t expected to handle shotgun snaps because, you know, they aren’t professional athletes.

From Sam Miret (@SamMiret):

If the Dolphins lose, does that affect Grier's employment in ANY way, or can he blow through Ross' money carelessly and have zero consequences for doing so?

Hey Sam, I don’t think a loss at Buffalo itself would have any effect, but it’s absolutely possible that Ross will examine every aspect of the organization and make changes in the offseason if things end on the same kind of bad note as they’ve started.

THE DOLPHINS MATCHUP AGAINST THE BUFFALO BILLS

From The Thrill (@PhinPhil):

Will Miami score any points?

Hey Phil, yes, I feel very confident the Dolphins will score some points, but they’ll need to score a lot of points if they’re going to have any shot at winning this game, in my opinion.

From Ed Helinski (@MrEd315):

How are you feeling about the Dolphins chances against Buffalo?

Hey Ed, I’m going to make my final prediction Saturday morning, but as I’m typing this answer, I’m battling two thoughts. The first is that all logic says the Dolphins are going to get handled easily because the Buffalo defense gives them a hard time and because there are too many missing pieces on defense. On the flip side, I’m a big believer in the desperation factor and the Dolphins clearly have the edge here. It’s also not like the Dolphins offense had a bad game against Arizona. So, right now, I don’t see a blowout at all and I do think the Dolphins could pull off the upset.

From Martin Contreras (@MartinC52447654):

I’d ask you a question but I was sitting on my couch eating chips and my wife threw me a soda and it want through my hands and spilled everywhere. 3 times in 1 day. She needs to get it together!

And we close with yet another comment about the Tua “couch and chips” reaction because, well, this is just pretty funny.